The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Monarchies of God

Kearney, 1995 · #48 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 80/120

As faith fractures and a holy city falls, a castaway king's ship sails west into the unknown in search of a new world.

Mood7Theme7Structure7Further reading6Creative details7Real-world blend4Divine influence8Climax and fights7Epicness7Genre standard3Originality6

Its strongest scores: divine influence and mood. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked The Monarchies of God, read:

  1. The Shadow Campaigns

    Wexler, 2013 · #56 on the list · 78/120

    A veteran captain and a disguised woman soldier serve a mysterious new colonel through a gunpowder-and-magic colonial war.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

  2. The Chronicles of Prydain

    Alexander, 1964 · #53 on the list · 79/120

    Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper leaves his farm to chase a lost oracular pig. He grows into a hero in the war against Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

  3. Traitor Son Cycle

    Cameron, 2012 · #51 on the list · 80/120

    A young mercenary captain called the Red Knight takes a contract to guard a convent in an Alba where the Wild is at war with humanity.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

  4. Tigana

    Kay, 1990 · #34 on the list · 85/120

    A sorcerer-king's curse has erased a province's very name from memory. A few survivors plot to win it back.

    Close on structure, further reading, creative details, real-world blend.

  5. The Broken Empire

    Lawrence, 2011 · #37 on the list · 85/120

    Jorg Ancrath, a prince turned road-brigand at thirteen, fights his way back to a throne in a ruined future that was once our world.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

Featured pick

Acenes of Sparta: The Dragon Slayer

Manolis Tsongas, 2026 · #5 on the list · 101/120 · for adults and mature teens

A dragon is the real reason King Leonidas and his three hundred died at Thermopylae. Sixty-two years later the gods send a Spartan boy of the agoge to kill it. The book takes lessons from tragedy and the cost of sacrifice, as is the Greek way.

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How the scores work: each book is rated 1 to 10 on eleven criteria; real-world blend and climax and fights count double, for a maximum of 120. See the full Fantasy 101.